


you oughta give me wedding rings

by liketheroad



Series: Joe Jonas: boy cheerleader [6]
Category: Disney RPF
Genre: F/M, M/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-04-11
Updated: 2011-04-11
Packaged: 2017-10-17 22:51:47
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,198
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/182160
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/liketheroad/pseuds/liketheroad
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Zac proposes to Kevin while they're watching a documentary about migrating birds.</p>
            </blockquote>





	you oughta give me wedding rings

Zac proposes to Kevin while they're watching a documentary about migrating birds. Levar Burton is talking about how scientists once believed that loons mated for life, but have recently posited that in fact, it was simply incorrectly _assumed_ that they did, because individual tracking of loons had previously been too inaccurate to prove otherwise. Zac feels like someone might have thought of this sooner, since, hey, l _oons look very similar_ isn't exactly a groundbreaking scientific epiphany, but whatever, he's just a theater major who teaches drama at the local community center.

It's not exactly going to keep him up nights, either, but Kevin, a long time supporter of loons commitment to monogamy, gets upset, and starts pacing on the rug of his and Zac's apartment.

"Maybe the tracking is still off," Zac tries to say, getting up off the couch and shadowing Kevin's distressed steps.

Kevin waves his hands a little and shouts, "You don't know that!"

Zac could point out that Kevin doesn't know either, but after years of being Kevin's boyfriend and even more years being his best friend, Zac pretty much knows better. Instead, he settles for silently pacing with Kevin, waiting for him to calm himself down.

"Why would they even put that in a show?" Kevin suddenly demands, stopping in his tracks, hands on his waist. "I mean, little kids watch that show!" Zac thinks that probably this isn't generally true, but he lets Kevin continue, "Why would they ruin it like that? Science is ruining love for the children, Zac!" Kevin's face is red, and his voice is genuinely upset, high and scratchy like it gets when he might cry, and Zac furrows his eye brows, trying to figure out what this is really about.

"I think the children are going to be just fine, Kev," he soothes hesitantly, mostly stalling for time.

"Are they?" Kevin mutters darkly.

Zac considers. This might not actually be a rhetorical question. The _children_ in question could possibly be Joe and Nick, who are, at last count, still shacked up with Demi Lovato and David Henrie in Chicago, living in more kinds of sin than the Jonas parents can begin to comprehend and still causing Kevin sleepless nights on a semi regular basis. Or it could be _child_ , singular, the youngest Jonas, Frankie, who has finally his stride as a 13-year-old, bringing his own special new brand of drama to the Jonas family by dying his hair black and being obsessed death metal and Led Zeppelin. Zac personally finds that behavior more troubling than Joe's penchant for skirts, and more recently, high heels.

Or, given the way Kevin is staring at him like he's afraid Zac is going to fly out the window at any second, it could actually be that Kevin's thinking of himself for once, instead of putting his wants well behind his small multitude of brothers.

"Kev," Zac says slowly, drawing out the name, "I'm not going anywhere."

Kevin makes a face like Zac is ridiculous for even suggesting that that's what he's freaking out about, but he starts pacing again, avoiding Zac's eyes. Zac struggles to find a way to say "I'm not a loon" that sounds, well, less like that, and it doesn't take him long to realize the best way to do that is to drop to his knees.

Kevin stops, confusion replacing the frantic worry that had previously dominated his face, and he holds his hands up a little in front of his chest, protectively, almost.

"I don't have a ring," Zac apologizes, accidentally starting in the middle.

Kevin blinks at him, "For what?"

Zac almost laughs, but then, it's not like this is the first time he's gone on his knees for Kevin, so maybe it's not so shocking that he isn't already on the same page. "To ask you to marry me with," Zac explains, giving up on doing this any other way that ass-backwards.

Kevin's eyes bug-out, and he takes a step back from Zac, which isn't a particularly encouraging sign. "I want to..." he clears his throat, wishing he had other words, but giving up and simply saying, "you know - mate for life."

Kevin's face transforms, shocked to shining, and he drops down onto the floor with Zac, grabbing him around the neck and hugging the air out of him.

"Is that a yes?" Zac laughs into Kevin's neck.

Kevin just hugs him tighter.

\---

Zac sits with Kevin and holds his hand while he calls his parents to ask them to come to the wedding. His dad tells Kevin it's not a real wedding, and hangs up. His mother calls back 15 minutes later and says they'll be there.

Kevin calls Joe and Nick next, and asks them both to be his best men. He has them on speaker, so Zac can hear, and so they can both talk, and there's silence for a long time after Kevin gives them the news.

"Of course we will," Joe answers eventually, his voice sounding small, further away than the distance between Chicago and L.A. "Congratulations, Kevin. Both of you." He sounds sincere, but strained, like the words are a fight to get out of his throat.

Zac looks at Kevin, lost, but he seems to understand all too well. "Demi and David are invited too," Kevin says, like a peace offering. Zac's not entirely clear why they need one.

Zac hears one of them clear their throat, Nick, if he'd have to guess. "Thanks, Kev." Definitely Nick.

"I don't know if we'll have a bouquet, but... maybe you'll catch it, Joe," Kevin says softly, the closest he can say to address the heavy silence that's fallen between them.

Zac hears rustling, like Nick and Joe are pushing their chairs closer, and he can imagine them pressing their bodies together, as he's seen them do countless times over the years. It's never looked as strange as it probably should, seeing them strain to be as close as physically possible.

"Maybe," Nick answers for Joe, another thing that is all too familiar to Zac. Nick's taken the lead since Zac's known them, and just as long, Joe has seemed all to happy to follow.

"We're thinking June," Zac adds, to keep the conversation going, "have it outside, by the ocean."

"I'm going to see if I can like... hire some tortoises, or something," Kevin says, finally letting his excitement bleed into his voice.

Joe and Nick both laugh, and Zac feels a little less like flying over there to shake both of them, to remind them sometimes everything isn't always about them, their drama, their problems. "To carry the rings?" Joe asks, sounding a mix of delighted and intrigued.

"I was more thinking just hanging around, looking cute, but that's an even better idea!" Kevin fist pumps in the air, looking thrilled.

"It'd be pretty slow, though," Nick cautions, with a chuckle still in his voice, "Unpredictable."

Kevin looks momentarily deflated, but Zac grins at him and says philosophically, "What's a wedding without a little excitement?"

Kevin smiles, and squeezes his hand.

\---

Once Joe's on board about the turtle idea, he basically turns into Kevin's de facto wedding planner. Kevin, Joe and Demi have conference calls, which Zac sits in on, nodding to whatever Kevin wants and imagining Nick and David doing the same on the other end of the phone. They aim to keep the wedding small - immediate family, a few close friends. Kevin and Zac have been living in L.A. since they started college, and they have a good life there, a full life, with enough people to easily fill the two sides of the small church Kevin finds for them. Zac likes the spot, doesn't even mind the religious connotations. It's good for Kevin. A concession to his parents, a comforting reminder of where he comes from. Kevin goes to church, sometimes, even now. Not for holidays or big events, just occasionally, when he's feeling a little lost, when he needs something other than Zac to ground him. So they'll get married in a house of God, with a United church minster who will read from Corinthians, and when it's all said and done, they'll go back to the home they've made together, and Zac will be a little more certain that Kevin will always be his.

\---

Zac's family flies in a week before the wedding, and Joe and Nick arrive with Demi and David the next morning. They don't have room for that much company in their condo, but there's a bed and breakfast near the church that's large enough to accommodate the wedding party and family.

The final days before the wedding are full of last minute preparations, mix-ups, and the occasional panic attack. Zac saves his own for last, nearly ripping the head off the caterer who tells them their cake has chocolate instead of buttercream frosting and that the cupcakes with sea turtles they wanted as party favors at the reception might not be ready. Kevin's there, suddenly calm after being frazzled for weeks, and despite being red with fury, all Zac needs to calm down is Kevin's hand on his shoulder, his chest pressed against Zac's back, murmuring words of comfort. Once he's unclenched a little, Kevin makes a joke about turtles not being expected to show up on time anyway, and Zac laughs, reminded of why they're together. For all that Kevin's usually the high-strung one, he's a sea of calm, of strength, underneath, and Zac's depended on that too long to even contemplate losing that, losing Kevin. Not now, not ever.

The night before the wedding, they have a rehearsal and a dinner afterwords, and even though they've been helping out with the arrangements for the past week, it's Zac's first time spending any real time with Joe and Nick, and the first time he's seen them and their parents together. Nick seems taller, older than Zac remembers him being at the last Jonas family Christmas. But as usual, Joe seems reduced, forlorn, even, in normal guys clothes. Zac watches him fuss with the long sleeves of his blazer and tug at his tie the whole meal. Nick hovers close, his face dark, a cloud of poorly concealed emotions he tries to shake whenever he looks at his parents, or Kevin. He's clearly trying, they both are, and Zac appreciates it, but he wishes it didn't take so much work. On everyone's part.

Kevin Sr. and Denise have adopted a code of silence about Nick and Joe stretching back years now, and David and Demi's place beside them at the family table is similarly left unchallenged. Zac loves all of them, even Frankie, who has only recently even started to speak to him beyond one word sentences muttered across rooms. They're Kevin's family, and that means they're his too. So he takes them with their imperfections, with their secrets barely concealed. He sometimes wishes for different, for a family Kevin has to sacrifice less for, but if he had that, he wouldn't be the person Zac has loved since he knew what the word meant. He wouldn't be Kevin.

So he distracts Denise with talk of the flowers while Joe and Nick disappear into the bathroom for far too long, he talks to David about the store he's hoping to buy in the next year because none of the other guests at the party even seem to know why he's there. He helps Kevin keep his father busy while Joe downs a glass of champagne in one sallow, watching happy couples testing out the small dance floor in the country club they're having the reception tomorrow, tries to keep Kevin Sr. from seeing the envy sharp and painful in Joe's eyes as he watches the skirts swoop across the floor.

At the end of the night, Joe and Nick give a short toast, like a warm-up for the big toast to the groom they're giving Kevin the next day. They speak in turns, finishing sentences, thoughts, in a way Zac knows from experience only comes from years of intimacy, of love. He wishes, more than he's ever wished, for them to be normal, that the world was different for them, that they could have a night like the one he and Kevin are, a time to have family and friends come together, to celebrate the life they're making together. When he sees the smile their words of love and support put on Kevin's face, Zac is reminded that, despite all the grey hairs they've caused him and Kevin both, Joe and Nick are worth it. Their love for their family, their dedication to each other, it's something to be proud of, grateful for. When they all raise their glasses together, toasting love and the togetherness, Zac tips his glass to Joe and Nick, and wishes them a lifetime of both.

\---

As they're leaving the rehearsal dinner, Kevin realizes he's forgotten his keys and waves Zac away when he asks Kevin if he wants Zac to come with him.

"Just meet me at the car, I'm sure they're on the table where we were sitting, or maybe my mom's already found them," he says, smiling ruefully.

Zac nods, saluting a temporary good-bye, and saunters out of the club, hands in his pockets. He heads for the car, but stops when he hears voices, quiet enough not to be sure at first, but low and angry, once he listens closer. He means to walk away, but as he catches a little more, he realizes the people he hears arguing are Joe and Nick. He strains his eyes in the dark, and finally spots them, two bodies pressed up close against one of the tall palm trees that surround the country club. He makes out Joe, looming uncharacteristically over Nick, whose back is pressed flat against the tree trunk.

Zac ducks behind his own tree, trying to pretend he's attempting to give them their privacy, all while he strains to listen closer.

"This isn't about us--" Zac hears Joe say, his voice sharp, words clear enough, now that Zac's listening intently.

"I know that," Nick responds, sounding frustrated, petulant, to Zac's ears.

"Do you?" Joe asks, softer.

" _This_ will never be about us," Nick tosses his head, gesturing widely. "Maybe David and Demi someday, sure, but never us. We don't get to have this, Joe. Not ever." Nick's voice sounds pained, ragged, like an old wound ripped open, covered in salt.

Zac sees Joe reach out, run a soothing hand through Nick's curls. It's more familiar, habitual, than intimate. In that moment, they look like nothing more than brothers. Then Joe leans closer, and their profiles lose their definition in the dark as their mouths touch.

"It doesn't matter," Joe promises. "We don't need a party or a public exchange of vows. I know I'll always be yours."

Nick grabs Joe with both hands, yanking him close by the lapels of his jacket. The kiss lasts longer this time, and leaves them both gasping for breath when they release. " _Mine,_ " Nick says, funneling all the want, all the anger into that one word.

Joe puts his thumb to Nick's lip and says, "Yours."

Zac closes his eyes, and doesn't open them again until he finally hears their footsteps recede into the darkness.

\---

Kevin wants to spend the night apart, tradition, and all that, but Zac wins the argument by reminding him that neither of them sleep well without the other. So, instead, they sleep wrapped together, Kevin's head on Zac's chest, Zac's hand in Kevin's hair, just like they have for the last seven years, just like they will for the next seven, and the seven after that.

\---

Everyone's holding flowers in the wedding party, because Kevin loves flowers. Zac kind of likes them too. Even the turtles Joe has managed to track down and, Zac assumes, _rent,_ for the occasion, have small bouquets around their necks. Zac feels a flash of worry about the People for the Ethical Treatment of Sea Turtles crashing their wedding, but then realizes that, if such a group did exist, Kevin would probably be a founding member, and therefore it's entirely possibly they'd get let off the hook.

It's also possible he's distracting himself with thoughts of turtle activist groups because otherwise he'll have to focus on the fact that he's so nervous he thinks he might throw up. But that's clearly besides the point. He and Kevin are walking each other up the aisle, and as he if can hear what Zac is thinking, Kevin presses his right hand tighter against their linked arms. Zac stays steady on his feet, keeps walking, but he turns to Kevin a little as they go, smiling. Kevin smiles radiantly back.

The ceremony is a blur, except for Kevin's face, his voice, as they both say _I do_. As they kiss, the church erupts with applause, and when Zac looks across the podium at Joe and Nick, he sees them clapping hardest of all.

He returns his gaze to Kevin, who is beaming back at him. Zac kisses him again.

\---

At the reception, there's live music. Dancing. Cake. Zac feels drunk before he takes his first sip of champagne. Kevin is at his side, squeezing his hand tight, beaming. Wave after wave of friends and family come to congratulate them and shake their hands, but the whole time, Kevin and Zac never let go of each other. As best men, Joe and Nick are part of the receiving line with them, smiling, accepting pats on the back, enduring talk from relatives about how this will be them someday, if they ever find nice girls to settle down with.

It's a small wedding, but it still takes about an hour before they've talked to everyone. Thanked everyone for coming, quietly pocketed the envelopes of money people have handed to them. Zac sees Nick getting tenser and tenser, minute by minute, until it's all Joe can do to guide him unobtrusively out of the hall instead of having Nick simply bolt for the door.

Kevin watches them go, and then looks back at his other guests, face torn, worried, and Zac puts a hand on his arm. "I'll go," he says, hoping he sounds reassuring and noble and not just like he's running away too.

Kevin smiles, like he really appreciates it, and ducks in to kiss Zac's cheek. "Come back soon, Mr. Jonas."

Zac winks at him, "Try and keep me away, Mr. Efron."

\---

When he catches up with Joe and Nick, they're just getting into the swing of their argument, voices raised, apparently past caring who can see or hear them. Or maybe they're just too wrapped up in each other to even notice someone might. Maybe that's always been the problem with them.

"You're kind of fucking with my wedding, here," Zac says by way of announcing his presence.

They both stop. Stop yelling, stop waving their arms. They turn to him, clearly shocked to find him there. They automatically stand closer together, a united front. Definitely too wrapped up in each other.

"You're not doing wonders for Kevin's night, either," he adds, raising his eyebrows pointedly.

They look like they're about to fight him, start yelling at once, but instead, they both square their shoulders and say together, "I'm sorry."

Zac smiles, because he really does love them, and because he believes them. He walks over to them, stepping in between them and putting an arm around each of their shoulders. As they start walking back in the direction of the club, Zac says, "If it helps at all, me and Kevin would totally come to your guys's wedding if one of you ever decided to change your last name and like, move up to Canada."

Nick is silent, but Joe laughs, loud and real, and after a few more steps, Nick laughs too.

\---

Back inside, Demi and David are dancing. This is note-worthy for several reasons. Partly because they're the only ones. They've cleared the floor, it's just the two of them, backed up by the swing music Zac and Kevin both love. It's also notable because they're dancing really fucking well.

Dancing like two people who were made for each other. Body and heart.

Zac feels Joe and Nick stop again, going still under his arms, and he looks at each of their faces, frozen in longing as they watch them.

Joe is watching Demi, lifted high in the air, her flouncy black skirt sashaying around her knees, her fishnet stockings somehow looking classy, high-heels dangling off the ground. She looks beautiful, weightless.

Nick is watching David's hands on her waist. Maybe he's envying the strength in them as he holds her up. Maybe it's something different entirely.

Zac squeezes the base of Nick's neck, and says, "Let's go get some cake."

He realizes he's an idiot right before Nick says, tight and clipped, "Can't have cake."

"He's a diabetic, you know," Joe says, exaggerating the dry sarcasm in his tone, trying to make Nick laugh.

All he does is wrap a hand around his chin, still watching Demi and David, before stalking away from them. Instead of going after him, Zac moves closer to Joe, slinging an arm back over his shoulders. "Nice dress she's got," he says, trying to mean it like something it's okay for Joe to appreciate, instead of something Zac's taunting him about not being able to have.

"Demi's got great legs," Joe says, with a distant, fond smile on his face, like he's remembering something from a long time ago.

Zac bites his lip for a second, considering, before not-so-subtly checking Joe out, head to toe, and saying, "You don't have such bad legs yourself."

Joe's answering smile is helplessly pleased, even though he clearly sees through Zac's rather flimsy attempt to distract him from his melancholy.

Joe sighs, long and lingering, and then pats Zac on the shoulder, looking suddenly old, more grown-up than Zac's ever felt. "I'm glad my brother finally realized how much you loved him," Joe says, like he means it, and then without another word, he walks away, trying to find Nick in the crowd.

\---

When Zac finds Kevin, he nearly gets hugged off the ground. "I missed you!" Kevin says, red cheeked, happy.

Zac kisses him. This is their wedding. They're allowed to do whatever they want. "I missed you, too," he says, completely sincere.

Kevin puts an arm around his waist, and then asks, trying to sound casual, "Joe and Nick?"

Zac shrugs. "Hanging in there."

Kevin nods, contemplating silently. They both watch the dance floor, still dominated by Demi and David. "Demi told me they've been taking swing classes," Kevin says, maybe just for something to say.

"It's paying off," Zac responds, impressed.

The song ends, and they finish with a move that involves David almost doing the splits and Demi up in the air, and then David brings her safely back to earth, kissing her cheek, grabbing her hand so they can both give showy bows to the applauding wedding guests. Demi leans up, whispers something into David ear, and he nods, not following her when she makes her way off the dance floor. She disappears briefly into the crowd of guests drinking and eating, before emerging again with Nick and Joe both in hand just as a new song starts up. It's slower, more of a love song than a roof raiser, but she pulls them onto the floor all the same.

She holds onto both of their hands until they reach David, and then she hands Nick over to him naturally, and David holds out his hands to Nick like he's been waiting a long time. Nick fits himself against David, just as Joe and Demi do the same, and together, the four of them dance, slow and sweet, with their heads resting on each other's shoulders. Even though there's space between the two couples, they seem to be moving in perfect harmony.

It's quiet, for all that the music is still playing, and Zac feels a tension building, sees his parents looking bewildered, sees Kevin's parents beginning to look angry. He looks to Kevin, because he always looks to Kevin, and in a moment of silent communication, they decide what needs to be done. Zac holds out his own arm, and Kevin takes it, and they walk, quickly but gracefully, onto the dance floor.

Nick startles a little, but David keeps him moving, and Joe and Demi don't even miss a step.

Even over the music, Zac can hear Joe's whispered, "thank you," and Zac smiles at him, smiles at all of them, knowing that's who Joe is speaking to.

As they dance, David and Nick move closer to Kevin and Zac, and for a minute, Nick's hand leaves David's shoulder to squeeze Kevin's instead. They share a smile, understanding passing between them that only comes from a lifetime of brotherhood, and then Nick lets David lead him gently away.

Zac pulls Kevin closer, their faces cheek to cheer, and the band plays on.


End file.
